The preferred embodiment concerns a method for sorting of print jobs in a printing system. The preferred embodiment furthermore concerns a computer program product and a printing system for execution of the method of the preferred embodiment. It in particular concerns the handling of print jobs that are sent to high-capacity printing systems whose print speed is approximately 40 pages up to over 1000 DIN A-4 pages per minute.
For processing of such print jobs, printing systems are frequently used that receive print data from a data source; prepare these print data for the printing, whereby under the circumstances they are converted from a first data format into a second data format suitable for a specific printer; and finally directly transfer the data stream so converted to a connected printer.
In the publication “Das Druckerbuch”, Dr. Gerd Goldmann (HSG), 6th edition (May 2001), Océ Printing Systems GmbH, Poing”, what are known as Océ PrismaPro server systems are described in chapter 14 that are in the position to process aforementioned print jobs. For this various system components are provided that provide for an extensive automation in the generation of a print job. Print jobs can be generated at an arbitrary client console in a client network and these can be transferred to an order distribution system by means of a print job manager.
The processing of print jobs in a print production environment definitely depends on enabling an optimally performing, flexible processing of the print jobs in order to achieve a high utilization of the connected production printers and therewith a high productivity.
A typical print data format in an electronic print production environment is the format AFP (Advanced Function Presentation) which is described, for example, in the publication Nr. S-544-3884-02 from the company International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) with the title “AFP Programming Guide and Line Data Reference”.
DE 698 13 504 T2 or the corresponding EP 0 951 679 B1 describes a method for updating of software, whereby software stored on remote servers should be downloaded automatically. Among other things, the version of the corresponding data can occur via checking of a time and date stamp associated with the respective file. If a new version is hereby determined, this is automatically downloaded from the remote server.
The printing process becomes increasingly more comprehensive since ever more apparatuses are integrated into a printing process, whereby the function diversity increases. Additionally, due to the internet and intranet printing processes are increasingly executed distributed regionally or are associated with a pool of printers that can be regionally distributed. Moreover, apparatuses of different manufacturers must increasingly operate together in a process. In order to be a match for these increased requirements, a uniform specification for exchange of data formats in a printing process was agreed upon that is designated as a job definition format (JDF). For this there is a corresponding job messaging format (JMF) that is correspondingly specified. The specification of JDF can be downloaded from the Internet site www.cip4.org; at the point in time of the present patent application the current specification is JDF Specification Release 1.3.
A workflow based on JDF is known from DE 103 39 511 A1.
An output management system for print jobs with the trade name Océ Print Exec Pro® is known from Océ Technologie B.V, Netherlands, in which it is provided that production dates or times are specified with the dispatch of the job with regard to print jobs.
Systems for processing of print jobs are known from EP 0 720 086 B1 and from US 2004/0218201 A1.
A method and a system for processing of jobs are known from U.S. Pat. No. 6,587,861 B2, in which a selection from a plurality of processing apparatuses can be made for execution of the jobs.
The aforementioned publications and documents are herewith incorporated by reference into the present specification.
JDF is an XML-based format in which the instructions for the printing process are arranged in a tree structure. Every node of the tree structure comprises an instruction or a set of instructions. The uppermost node is designated as a root. The end nodes at branches are designated as leaf nodes. Furthermore, the nodes are hierarchically structured, whereby in the tree structure product nodes lie at the tip or in the upper region, process group nodes lie in a middle region, and process nodes lie in the lower region.
The distinctiveness of JDF lies in that there can be what are known as intent nodes that contain a very general instruction for the printing process that must be rendered more precisely in order to be able to be executed at an apparatus. The product nodes are in particular also designated as product intent nodes. This more precise rendering, which is also designated as a resolution, is executed by a corresponding controller in the course of the printing process in that one or more further nodes that enter the instruction of the intent node more precisely are subordinated to the intent node. This resolution can occur in steps, meaning that a cascade of further nodes are subordinated to the intent node, whereby the exact instructions for the apparatus (in particular the printer) are contained in the last node (the leaf node).
The resolution of the intent instructions into more precise instructions up to the commands contained in the leaf nodes occurs by means of programs that are designed similar to device drivers and that convert general intent instructions into more concrete intent instructions or into concrete commands for a printer or an apparatus. Specifications about resources that are contained in the respective nodes are also taken into account in this conversion. According to the JDF specification, resources are all things that are consumed or produced. They comprise physical objects (such as, for example, paper, ink) or data in the form of files or parameters. A resource has an XML ID with which it is identified in the overall job ticket.
A method for automated acceptance and forwarding of document processing jobs is known from WO-A-03/065197 in which, to create a print job from at least one file, the file is transferred into a specific folder of a receiving server; the folder is automatically checked with regard to newly arrived print jobs in regular, in particular configurable intervals; and a new print job is generated, added from the newly arrived print job. Three possibilities of how the control of the acceptance and forwarding of the print jobs occurs are hereby provided. According to the first possibility, print jobs comprise only print data, whereby a predetermined control file of the printing system (default job ticket) is used for printing of these print data. Given a second possibility, a job-individual control file (job ticket) is used. Given the third possibility, the print jobs contain print data and comprise respectively parameterized file names for further processing. The further printing process is controlled using the parameters specified in the file name. These three possibilities for controlling the print job can also be applied in combination. In particular the predetermined control file is often used in connection with further control information.
In contrast to this, in the present document the term “print job” or “document processing job” is used as a designation for the files that are generated via such a method for automatic acceptance and forwarding of document processing jobs. As a rule it is no longer possible to add further files in such a document processing job.
In the present document the individual files that contain the data to be printed are designated as print files.
Print files that are sent from a client to a print server and there are converted into the document processing jobs via such a method for automatic acceptance and forwarding of document processing jobs are designated as print jobs. These print jobs are also normally provided with control information.
The print jobs are thus a type of “document processing job” that contains only job-specific control information that is generated at a client and not in a printing system. The document processing jobs are “document processing jobs” with job-specific and printing system-specific control information. The printing system-specific control information are added to the document processing jobs at the printing system, in particular at the print server.
This known method has proven its worth very well. However, due to the development that has occurred in recent years to distribute print jobs and print tasks to different print servers and printers via data networks, the data volume that is to be processed by a server steadily increased. A significant need has hereby arisen for a method for automatic acceptance and forwarding of document processing jobs that can quickly and flexibly handle such large data volumes.
Methods for sorting of print jobs that are stored in an individual file folder are known. Given these conventional methods for sorting of print jobs the print jobs are sorted using the file access time that is stored upon generation of the respective file. However, it is hereby disadvantageous that the smallest time unit that is recorded in the file access time is typically one second. A plurality of files in a folder can be generated within one second, in particular given multitasking systems.
However, in particular in high-capacity printing a significant need exists for sorting of print jobs since substantial print exemplars (such as, for example, books) are distributed to a plurality of print jobs. If the individual print jobs were to be transposed in order, the entire print exemplar (which is normally automatically bound) would be good for nothing.
In high-capacity printing systems a plurality of print files are often combined into one document processing job. A control file is hereby normally generated that is also designated as a job ticket and that automatically controls the further processing, in particular the printing, cutting, punching and binding. A need exists to feed print jobs to the printing system via different interfaces (inputs). Furthermore, it is desired to merge a plurality of print files into a single document processing job. This is presently not practically possible since the individual print jobs contain different sources for control parameters that can result in an uncontrolled workflow given a combination.